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H. S. BLOOD. RAILWAY sAPETY ATTACHMENT.

i No. 82,199. Patented Sent. 15, 18

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H. S. BLOOD, OF JEFFERSON, LOUISIANA.

Letters Patent No. 82,199, dated is'eptentber 15, 1868.

RAILWAY SAFETY-ATTACHMENT.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, H. S. BLOOD, of the city of Jefferson, parish of Jefferson, and State of Louisiana, have invented a certain new, useful, and improved Apparatus for Preventing Railroad-Cars from Running on Persons, and other animate or inanimate objects, as may get orhe put on the track or rails on which said cars run; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of'this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side, and

Figure 2 a bottom plan view of the floor and running gear of a railroad-car with my improvements attached.

It is well known that, in crowded streets, on which there .are railroads, whatever may be the care and vigilance of the driver, it is simply impossible always to prevent the cars from running on and killing or maiming children, and even grown persons, who, from heedlessness, defective organs of sight or hearing, or other cause, get in the way of and are struck down by a car before its motion can be arrested; and also that single cars, as well as trains, upon every kind of railroad, are frequently thrown ofl the track, oftentimes with fearful loss of life and property, in consequence of running upon or over some obstruction on the track.

My invention is intended to fulfil the important object of preventing these accidents; that is to say, it is intended equally to prevent city-railroad cars from running" over people who may chance to fall upon the track,

and steam-trains from being thrown off the track by anything in the nature of the ordinary obstructions that produce such a result, and it consists of rotating appliances that are placed in front of the wheels of the car, which, revolving in an opposite direction to the wheels, and coming in contact with the obstruction before the wheels reach it, remove the same by a rolling motion off the track, and out of the way of the car.

But my invention will be better understood by referring to the drawing, on which the same letters denote the same parts at both the figures.

A A are two narrow drums or fender-wheels, that are supported by a frame, B, upon an axle or revolving shaft, 1, in movable journals, a a, in such manner that their perimeters, or portions of their perimeters, may be kept in contact with the perimeters of the fore wheels C of the car, or not, at the pleasure of the driver, through the agency of the lever D and the ratchet-staff E. a

In order to secure uniformity of position, with reference to the track or ground on the part of. the fenderwheels A, the frame B is hung or supported upon journal-straps around the fore axle F, as shown at b b, there being a slight annular depression around theaxle to receive the said straps; or projecting collars around the axle, at the proper point, may be employed to hold the strapsin position, without reducing the axle beyond what is just requisite to have a smooth surface or journal underneath said straps.

The fender-wheels .A should be encircled by a thick band of India rubber, except only upon that part of their circumference that comes into contact with the car-wheels, or some equivaleht substance, and in practice it would be well, probably, to roughen the external surface of the said bands, in such manner that the same shall be not unlike a series of wide, blunt-pointed saw-teeth, so as-to give a more pronounced effect to their action upon the person or thing itshall be their function to remove out of the way of the car or car-wheels.

So, also, the fender-wheels may be of-solid disk-form, as shown on the drawing, or' they may be provided with spokes and felloes if the solid form be found too heavy, and three or more .may be interposed between the wheels A, or, instead thereof, a continuous drum may be used, ifit is desired, to prevent anything lying on the road between the rails from passing under the car.

The India-rubber facing, so to call it, of the wheels A A, should have an inclination outwardly, so as to roll obstructions in that direction and'not between the rails; but this inclination riced not be excessive.

The rear ends of the side pieces of the frame B may be secured, as shown, to the body of the car, near the centre thereof, or these ends may be brought-together by curving them, and be attached to the rear axle G by means of a suitable band at the point e, where there may be anannular recess cut or turned to keep the band in plae, and prevent anylateral vibration of the frame. In the latter case especially, it will be seen that no elevation or depression of the body of the car, by' an increased or reduced number of passengers, can have the slightest effect upon the relation of the fenderwheels to the track, because, the axles being fixed in their relation to or distance from the ground, the frame B, as well as the fender-wheels, must be governed by them, without reference to the conditions of the body of the car.

The fender-wheels should be of slightly less diameter than the wheels of the car, and so placed as that their lower edges shall come very near to the rails of the road, so as to throw off very small articles from the rails, and, if deemed desirable, a brush for sweeping the rails might be put around these wheels, without at all interfering with their legitimate functions.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

The lever D is pressed downinto the position, as shown at fig. 1, which brings the fender-wheels A m contact with the car-wheels C, and instantly puts them into motion through the agency or power of the friction resultingfrom the contact, and in a reverse direction to the motion of the car-wheels. Having this motion, and

a slight inclination outwardly on their perimeters, the efi'ect will be to roll any object, whether animate or inanimate, with which they comeiuto contact, by a sort of lifting-action ofl the rail, and out of the line of the car-wheels; and hence, if the object be a human being, his or her life will be saved, and without broken bones.

If it be desirable to let the, fender-wheels rest, all that is requisite is to release the lever D from the ratchetstafl E, when they will at once move forward, out of contact with the car-wheels, and remain motionless until some obstruction strikes against one or both of them, which will at once throw them back, and into contact with the wheels 0, and put them into motion. As soon as this takes place they will begin to rotate, nor will the rotation cease until the driver can actuate the lever D, or the obstruction be thrown off the rail.

As herein described, the fender-wheels A are rotated by virtue of the traction between them and the carwheels; but obviously they could be revolved just as efl'ectually by cog or band-gearing connected with the fore axle of the car.

My life-saving apparatus may be applied to existing cars, without in the slightest degree altering their construction. I A

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of a railroad-car with the fender-wheels A A, the shaft 1, and the frame B, when these parts are constructed, arranged, and operate substantially as herein described for the purpose set forth. l

\ H. S. BLOOD.

Witnesses:

0. W. WAILEY, H. N. Jsxxnrs. 

